On All Souls’ Eve / Samhain, it is perhaps with a little irony that I talk about losing our souls. The pagan celebration of Samhain and the Christian celebration of All Souls’ Day and Eve are both grounded in, what is essentially ancestor reverence. We remember and give thanks. Depending on your spirituality you might take this further and ask for a little advice, help or protection.

Our western culture keeps death hidden and out of sight. It has become a private matter and something not discussed in polite circles. Funerals have become a little more like celebrations than wakes in some circles, but we still, quite naturally, have a fear of the end times.

There are large outpourings of grief when tragic events, natural and unnatural, occur. We lay flowers, write poems and share memories. Our media outlets capture our grief and share it around the globe. We struggle with such events. We struggle when death stares us in the face.

To my pagan friendsSamhain blessings

To my Christian friendsHappy Hallowe’en / All Hallow’s Eve

To capitalist Hallmark supportersHappy Halloween

A little over 100 years ago death was within each of our homes. The rarity was when a family didn’t bury one of its own. Mortality was something real to everyone, standing next to them constantly. As we overcame infection and understood vaccination, death was pushed further from our view. Until now, death and monsters and ghosts and ghouls are the staples of supernatural TV shows, horror writers and the shop promoted event of Halloween.

Samhain and All Hallow’s Eve offer a time to think about the dead. It is a time to celebrate the lives that have gone before us. It is a time to remember those who are no longer here. It is a time to give thanks for what they did, the inspiration they give us and the guidance their lives offer.

Whether the veil between the here and the there (wherever, or whatever, that might be) is thinner at this time I don’t know. However, it is a time to stop and think and face the dead. Not in fear, but in thanks. Not in sadness, but in celebration.

Whose life will you celebrate and give thanks for this *thin* time?

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The veil is thin. The boundary between the here and the there is sparse. Can you hear any sound? Can you feel a touch? Is there anybody out there? Welcome to Halloween.

Halloween has been hijacked by the commercialism that surrounds so much, which is a shame. But there might be a little more to this than treats that go bump in the collection pot.

Remembrance

Samhain, all hallows’ eve, all saints’ day and all souls’ day, are, among other things, all times of remembrance. In a week or so the UK will have Remembrance Sunday when those who fought and fell in armed conflict will be remembered. It seems this is a time for remembering and holding close those who have departed. A time to reach out in prayer, in thought and in thanks to those who are gone and have passed beyond the veil, the thin veil.

It is said that thin places are where the boundary between the physical world and the spiritual world is small. Thin places are where you can feel close to whatever lies beyond.1 I would suggest that today, and the next few days, are thin times. Moments when we can feel closer to those who have passed.

Remember

Take a moment to remember those who are no longer with us, family, friends and others. In your journal, write a note or passage, about them. Give thanks for them, perhaps even ask them to watch over you or offer a prayer for you. Everything that has been, has led to this moment and to your existence.

Give thanks, this thin time.

1 The more I read about quantum states, multiverses and theoretical physics, the more I think there could be something in this.